OK, here’s the scene last year at this time – as the Wine and Gold departed for their 10th straight trip to Summer League in Las Vegas …
Just before the 2014 Draft, the Cavaliers replaced Mike Brown with new head coach David Blatt, fresh off winning the Euroleague Championship and Coach of the Year honors. Blatt would follow in the footsteps of Jason Kidd and Steve Clifford the previous year and coach his Summer League squad.
In that June’s Draft, Cleveland – fresh off winning the NBA Lottery for the third time in four years – tabbed 19-year-old Kansas swingman Andrew Wiggins with the top overall pick. Wiggins would join the previous season’s No. 1 selection and fellow Canadian, Anthony Bennett, on a team that also featured second-rounder, Joe Harris – along with sophomores like Sergey Karasev, Carrick Felix and Matthew Dellavedova, the undrafted Aussie that used a strong Sin City performance in 2013 to help lock up a roster spot.
During the day, Blatt – along with his new staff and his new squad – learned each other’s rhythms during practices at Desert Oasis High School. At night, those of us covering the team spent our evenings watching the ESPN scroll – eagerly awaiting LeBron James’ free agent decision.
The Cavaliers were just tipping off morning shootaround to prepare for their Summer League opener against Jabari Parker and the Bucks when that decision broke – and those of us who watched it unfold on a small TV just outside the practice court at COX Pavilion will never forget the moment. Later that night, it barely mattered if the Cavaliers beat Milwaukee – but they did anyway, topping the Bucks, 70-68, as Delly scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.
This year, the Cavaliers head to the desert with a completely different mindset. Just one year ago, the Cavs were a team youngsters bursting with promise and potential. One year later, they’re a veteran-laden squad that finished two wins away from an NBA title.
But that doesn’t decrease the importance of Cleveland’s annual Sin City sabbatical. And as the Cavs Summer League squad gears up for the opener against – (who else?) – Golden State on Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, here are some notes to get you ready …
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FLYING COACH – David Blatt got off to a great start in his new role as Cavs coach last year in Vegas – wrapping up with a 4-1 record before Cleveland’s offseason for the ages completely changed the club’s complexion.
This year, third-year assistant Bret Brielmaier will coach the Wine and Gold’s Summer League team. The energetic, up-and-comer joined the Cavs in 2013 after spending four seasons as the Spurs video coordinator. The Mankato, Minnesota native played under legendary coach Lute Olson at Arizona. He was a graduate assistant with the Wildcats in ’08 before moving up to the NBA the following year.
Brielmaier, one of the Cavaliers more lively coaches, should run some entertaining, spirited practices this week – perfect for a group of youngsters, some of whom will be fighting for their NBA lives (in Cleveland or elsewhere) over the next two weeks.
NO ORDINARY JOE – The only holdover from last year’s Summer League team is sophomore swingman, Joe Harris, who played in 51 games for the Cavaliers as a rookie.
Taken with the 33rd overall pick in 2014, the 6-6, 225-pounder finished second in Virginia history in made three-pointers and played more games in Charlottesville than any player in school history. As a first-year guy on a veteran-laden roster, Harris spent much of his rookie season chasing donuts, singing “Happy Birthday” to the vets after practice and toting his pink “Frozen” backpack on the road.
But Harris also showed some promise in limited opportunities. He finished third among all rookies in three-point percentage and notched double-figures on three occasions. He started one game this season – against Philly on January 5 – and made it count: finishing with 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting. In 21 minutes off the bench against Atlanta on November 15, the Chelan, Washington native went 4-for-5 from long-distance for 12 points to go with four boards and four assists.
In 11 games with the Canton Charge – (whose head coach, Jordi Fernandez, will be one of Cleveland’s assistants in Vegas) – Joe Harris averaged 14.1 points, 5.4 boards and 3.5 assists.
With the retirement of Shawn Marion and a year of invaluable regular and postseason experience – even from the sidelines – under his belt, Harris could make some strides as a sophomore with the Cavs.
THERE’S A DRAFT IN HERE – In the most recent Draft, the Cavs moved out of the first round when they dealt the 24th overall selection – Duke guard Tyus Jones – to Minnesota in exchange for the rights to a pair of second round picks this year and one in the future.
With those second round selections – Nos. 31 and 36 overall – the Wine and Gold went with Turkish forward Cedi Osman and Syracuse big man Rakeem Christmas, respectively. With their own second round choice – No. 53 overall – the Cavaliers tabbed St. John’s swingman Sir’Dominic Pointer.
Cavs GM David Griffin acknowledged that Osman will spend the next couple years developing overseas. But Christmas and Pointer will be ready to roll when the tourney tips off later this week.
Christmas was one of 15 finalists for the Wooden Award as a senior, when he literally tripled his scoring average from the previous season, earned Third Team All-American Honors and was named the ACC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-ACC.
The Virgin Islands native, who graduated in three years with a bachelor’s in communications and rhetorical study, led the squad in scoring (17.5), rebounding (9.1) and blocked shots (2.5) in his final year at Syracuse.
Pointer was the Big East’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year and the conference’s Most Improved Player as a senior. In his final year, Pointer led the Red Storm in rebounding (7.7) and steals (1.9), was second in assists (3.0) and third in scoring (13.7 ppg). He leaves St. John’s ranking third in school history in blocks (172) and fifth in steals (200).
ROUNDING OUT THE ROSTER – The Cavaliers will complete the squad with a group of Summer League invitees, which include …
D.J. White, who was taken with the 29th pick of the 2008 Draft by Detroit and has appeared in 138 NBA games in his six-year career.
Quinn Cook, a point guard who played four years and 143 career games with Duke, averaged 11.0 ppg for his career – 15.3 ppg as a senior, leading the Blue Devils in steals and assists.
Tyler Haws, an off-guard who played in 139 games at BYU, averaged 19.6 ppg for his career. He’s the Cougars’ all-time leader in scoring, field goals attempted, free throws made and attempted, free throw percentage, games started and minutes played.
John Shurna, a power forward who started 128 games for Northwestern, averaged 15.7 points for his career.
Keifer Sykes, who played in 127 games at Wisconsin-Green Bay, averaged 16.5 ppg over the course of his career.
A few of the players from last year’s Cavaliers Summer League squad will be back – only not with the Wine and Gold. Alex Kirk will play for the Knicks, Will Cherry for the Spurs and Jack Cooley with the Jazz.
Like last year, the scions of NBA royalty – like Ralph Sampson III (Celtics) and Juwan Howard Jr. (Heat) – will try to follow in their fathers’ footsteps. Another Heat invitee has some impressive bloodlines as well. Tyler Kalinoski – a 6-4 guard from Davidson and last year’s Atlantic-10 Player of the Year – is the nephew and godson of the Cavaliers’ excellent Director of Community Relations, Holly Yanak.
LET’S GET IT ON – Summer League has some unique rules that you might want to get acquainted with before live action begins. Players are allowed 10 personal fouls in pre-tournament games. There’s a two-minute overtime period and if the game goes to double-OT, it’s sudden death. The first team to score wins.
Each team will play three opponents to start Summer League. At that point, tournament play begins.
The Cavaliers will start out against the Warriors on Friday night at Thomas & Mack – 10:30 p.m. ET. On Saturday, they’ll take on Brooklyn at 10 p.m. ET at COX Pavilion. Finally, they face off against Milwaukee on Monday afternoon, 4 p.m. ET.
From that point, the tournament begins on Wednesday afternoon. Round 2 takes place on Thursday and the consolation round comes on Friday. The quarterfinals are on Saturday, with semifinals on Sunday and the title game going down on Monday, July 20.